A home in Grand Coulee was destroyed by a fire Wednesday morning.
The fire started shortly after 7 a.m. when neighbours were woken by the smell of smoke and what they thought was a campfire in the backyard.
By the time crews had finished tackling the blaze, the bungalow look more like it had exploded. The roof was almost completely ripped open and the garage door left hanging on its hinges.
“To me it is indicative of a backdraft. Now that is speculative, I don’t know for sure,” explained Grand Coulee fire chief Kevin Joa. “Neighbours did go inside this morning to see if there was anyone home, and when they left, it was shortly after that, the garage door blew out.”
Neighbour could only gather in the cold with coffee cups and watch as crew continued to tackle hot spots, work Joa said will likely take up most of the day.
Fortunately no one was home at the time. There was some concern about flames spreading to the neighbouring houses.
“We had a hand line on either side of the house doing that while we had another hand line involved in fighting the fire,” said Joa.
This is what I am seeing at the scene of a massive house fire in Grand Coulee. pic.twitter.com/Hj3Ksey6vE
— Sarah Mills (@smillsSK) December 9, 2015
It appeared the neighbouring houses had water damage.
Regina fire crews were called to assist the Grand Coulee department.